Lima, Peru

Hello all!
Writing here safely from Jessica Schwabs house in Lima (a friend of my Dad). We arrived early in the morning of the 27, and have gotten to eat some really good food and explore Lima a bit both with Jessica and her family as well as with her niece, Carol. Carol is 24, and really nice and has been our guide for the past two days. I am traveling with my friewnd Margot (who is playing the piano right now!) and it is just great so far.
Lima is alright. We are planning on going North tomorrow, however, to spend New Years in Trujillo, on the coast and then make our way up to Ecuador and eventually Colombia. Last night we went with Carol and her boyfriend and his friends to watch them all play soccer in this barrio that was a little sketchy. We werent in danger, though because we were surrounded by her and her big, Peruvian guy friends. The soccer game was interesting, and there was a nice mix of Peruvians hanging out. Margot and I constantly get a kick out of the differences between the Peruvians and Chileans, and whos -is -whos. In Chile, Pisco is Chilean, but here in Peru of course Pisco is Peruvian because "Chileans try and steal everything that is ours...". So, it has been interesting to see that there is some tension between the two countries still. Even Carols boyfriend didnt recieve us too nicely when we said we had been in Chile. "oh Chiiiile, poh!?" mimicking the sing-song Chilean dialect. We did notice as well that a lot of the "Chileanismos" have carried over to Peru as well. Bakan and other words (which we previously thought were CHILEAN) are actually more common. Including, for example, our favorite "wevon" it sounds like "weoown" when spoken and can mean anything from "dude" to "asshole" to "lazy bum" to "friend". Also, (we got a kick out of this one...) it can be used as a verb or even adverb! In an interview a Chilean poet described that most interviews are written "huevonamente" Ha, definately one of my favorite words so far. We are not spending too much time in Peru now, but after our Ecuador Colombia adventures, we will most likely come back through and do the Cusco, Machu Pichu, Lake titicaca thing. Margot also wants to go into Bolivia, so well just see where we go! So far, there have been lots of laughs, and there will hopefully continue to be as we carry on our adventures. Good vibes coming from here! Happy holidays and Happy New year to you all up there!
Chauuuuuu!